For once I’m
not really sure what I should call this walk, it was supposed to be a redo of a
walk that I failed miserably on before see:-

http://www.onefootinnorthumberland.co.uk/DISAPPOINTMENT_.htm for info. But after all the bother I think I would have been
better calling this walk “the curse of Holwick scars” but it’s done and dusted
now and even though it took hours longer than planned and nearly crippled me it
was still a brilliant days walking and even if I do say so myself just go to
show what its possible when you …………..eh! Basically have no choice but to carry
on.

The day
started well enough, I threw the gear into the car and drove down to pick my
walking partner Yvonne up who was as normal on time , her gear was thrown into
the boot and off we went , the
weather gods where smiling on us clear blue skies with a light cooling breeze
great. Our destination was the small but free car park at Bowlees, I like the
word free where we would go into our normal routine of coffee, gear sorted out
for the day and off we went.

Who as luck
would have it only walked it a short time before so I knew that there shouldn’t
be any surprises waiting for us , however what he hadn’t mentioned was the
massive bull that had free range across a huge section of the path above Holwick
scars , naturally both me and Yvonne only noticed him once it was too late but
carry on hoping that he didn’t see us , I couldn’t help but notice that Yvonne
in her role as my carer made sure that my body was always positioned between the
bull and herself , and when we at last sighted the fence I asked her if she
would run away if the bull charged us that she declined to answer , naturally
once she had climbed over the fence she assured me that she would never run off
and leave me ……but I have my doubts , it was around this time that I started
having problems with my seal on the socket , I had already stopped once and had
to sort the leg out but it was far too soon for another “arty leg stop”, however
despite trying several things it would seem that I was in for a hell of a day
with literally keeping the leg on , I suppose we should have turned around and
headed back down , but neither of us wanted to go past the bull again and so we
pressed on , me thinking once we get to the top , it would be easier on the flat
and downhill sections with regards to keeping the leg on .

This proved
to be totally wrong and caused nonstop problems all the way round which I won’t
go into till the end of the walk (day after thoughts) but I would say that if
things went to plan we should have driven home for tea time, whereas we had just
got into the pub for a well-deserved drink by about 19:30 ish, and boy did we
need a drink, I can honestly say I have never been so mentally and physically
exhausted since ……….well the last time.

Anyway
getting back to the walk, there was several reasons why I chose this route (see
map above) I wanted to get up above the scars, and I also wanted to view both
Selset & Grassholm Reservoirs from up Harter fell ever since I looked up
that way when I was walking around the reservoirs earlier this year, and there
was yet another bit of the Pennine way that I hadn’t walked along, then finally
it was a case of staying on the Pennine way which took us back down to the river
Tees where we would walk back to Bowlees and yes you guessed it I have never
walked this section of the river before so it was sort of ticking several boxes
for me (if you know what I mean).

The route
itself was a long slow uphill slog to start with, slowly being burnt alive by
the super-hot sun, at one point we couldn’t see a single cloud in the sky and
being up on the Moor there wasn’t a single bit of shade, but even up here the
ground was still saturated and boggy, it must be really fun during the winter
when it’s really wet. However being the super people we are we made it to the
top and were rewarded by a breeze that slowly started to cool my boiling head
down from a bright purple to an angry red.

Lunch was had looking across the
reservoirs, and once again Yvonne produced some tasty treats for me to throw
down my neck, but if the truth was known I was too hot and concerned about arty
leg to do them justice. But I gave it my all after all I don’t want Yvonne to
think that I don’t appreciate her efforts.

After lunch
we once again we faced our fears and headed across not one but two fields full
of blood thirsty cattle, (they weren’t really blood thirsty, in fact they
couldn’t be bothered to even give us a second glance) but we wasn’t to know that
at the time, (we like to think that we are very brave explorers rather than
scared wimps) however at one point along the path we were dived bombed by a
rather high rate bird who did its best to …………….well get us . I can only guess
that it had a nest close by, it was at this point I had to stop (out of its
range) and sort out arty leg, and we watched as another person approached the
nesting area, this time the birds went bonkers, the poor fell runner didn’t know
what hit him, he stopped running and spent the next five minutes crouched right
over staggering along trying to get away from them. Yep these birds down this
way sure are mean at times.

From this
point onwards the walk should have been a delight, good views, beautiful
scenery, good paths and lovely sunshine, but I was really starting to struggle
now with Arty leg. But at least we were on the homeward stretch , we or should I
say I staggered down to the river and then it was a case of walking back
upstream to Bowlees , simple easy walking , but I am ashamed to say it was a
nightmare for me , I was sore , bruised and totally sick of the leg , Yvonne did
what she does best and produced some very tasty sweets to keep me going , and
with the Tees flowing along it helped coved the last couple of miles , but I
found it hard going , you know when it’s just a case of one foot in front of the
other , I so wanted to take arty leg off and just lay down and sleep , I was
mentally buggered and every step was causing me a great deal of discomfort. I
will go back and walk along this stretch of river, it deserves to be appreciated
and I didn’t I just wanted to get back .after what seemed like 100 zillion years
we got back to the car, and such was our rush, gear was thrown into the boot,
air con was on full and we headed to the nearest pub for a well-earned drink,
long icy cold (non-alcoholic) drink, it wasn’t till I was on my second one that
I started to feel human again.

A good way to
finish what should have been a brilliant days walking.

All in all
about 10.8 miles with about 1450ft of yours ups and downs (it seemed a lot more
than that)

As normal a
few photos enjoy:-

The Hay meadows at Bowlees, still a bit early to see them
at their best.

Low force
waterfall.

The river tees, (rather
low) taken from the suspension bridge.

One last photo before we
leave the river.

Looking up towards
Holwick Scars.

A couple of photos as we
get closer.

Starting to head
up.

Looking along the scars
(really I am getting my breath back)

One of
Yvonne.

Now on the moor, looking
back (there was a huge bull in this area)

Our path wreathing its
way around the boggy bits.

Looking over the other
side of the hill towards a distant Selset reservoir.

Home and cool
shower , on inspecting my stump I found that I had reopened the cut that I had
only just managed to close up and it was stinging (I know I am a wuss at times)
and it was very red and puffy , however after a good night’s sleep I woke up in
the morning to find that the swelling had gone down and the cut had dried up ,
much to my amazement I didn’t ache at all , I suppose this was because of all
the Arty leg breaks that I had.

My face was sore from the sun again, I
must remember to use sun cream in future. But I have got a lovely dark bruise
forming along the top of my stump and under my arse cheek; I suppose this was
because of the pistoling in the socket. So what went
wrong?

The problem
was I was losing suction ………………however as the day went on it would seem that I
was losing it from 3 places.

One the valve
was passing; there is no doubt about that.

Secondly air
was getting inside the liner and inflating it , I know this because when I took
it off it was blown up at the end , this seem to happen when I was going uphill
only.

Thirdly, air
was getting in between the liner and the socket, again I know this because I
could not only hear it I could feel it as well.

The
combination of all these really caused me trouble, both physically and mentally
and no matter what I tried to combat this air leak I failed miserably. I will
sort something out in the future that I know but at the moment I am just taking
it easy and waiting for my stump to heal and the bruising to go. Its been one
hell of a learning curve today ….thank you.